Discuss the audience
appeal of your three main texts (30)
The three main texts I will be
looking at are Lost, Madmen and Peaky Blinders who all appeal to different
audiences. Lost is a science fiction television drama aired on ABC, following
the lives of survivors after a plane crashed onto an island. The
intended audience for JJ Abrams 'Lost' is a wide mainstream audience, where
passive and active audience can be gratified. Madmen is a period drama series created by
Matthew Weiner. The series is aired on AMC, which is an American cable and satellite
channel that viewers have to pay for. It is set in the 1960’s and focuses on
the life of Don Draper and his business. This text attracts a niche audience
due to the advanced cinematography and complex character representations. Peaky
Blinders is a six-part crime drama aired on BBC 2. It is set in Birmingham in
1919 and follows the lives of former soldiers who have returned home and formed
a criminal gang. Peaky Blinders has elements of highbrow but also has
mainstream conventions appealing to both niche and mainstream audience.
A range of conventions
have been used to appeal to the audience of Lost. One convention that has been
used to appeal to this wide mainstream audience is an ensemble cast. 'Lost' has
a wide range of actors and character roles with different ages, races, genders
and nationalities included. Each character also has a different personality
style with different views and opinions on things, so that there is a character
that relates to everyone watching. An example of this is that there is a young
American female called Shannon who is perceived as being vain and selfish. When
asked by her brother to come help the survivors of the plane crash, Shannon
rejects him and continues to sunbathe amongst the rubble. On the contrary,
their is Hurley, a teenager with long curly hair and is much larger than the
rest of the cast. He is willing to get to know the people on the island and get
stuck in helping out. When Sawyer is fighting with Syiid he states 'we are all
in this together man'.
Combining escapism and
relatable plot is another convention that will help appeal to a wide audience.
By each character having a somewhat relatable back-story that is revealed in
the flashbacks and flash-forwards, it gives the audience not only a character
to relate to but a situation or problem that they can relate to as well. An
example of this would be the relationship between Michael and his son Walt. It
is revealed that Walt's mother has recently died so Michael is responsible for
taking care of Walt however because Michael is new to this, his relationship
between him and his son is flawed. The audience might be able to personally
identify with Michael, influencing them to watch more episodes of Lost to see
how his situation turns out. On the other hand the series is set on an island
somewhere which is not relatable to many peoples personal situations, leaving them
a place to escape to while watching it. By using a neutral location it appeals
to all different types of audiences and doesn’t alienate any group of people.
A third convention is the
use of score, which is the background music of a film. A composer writes a
score specifically for a particular film or TV show. It is written specifically
to match the emotion in that particular scene of the show with the purpose that
the audience will feel that same emotion at the particular time watching it. In
Season 1 Episode 2, the use of score is used to create tension amongst the
audience. When some of the characters are walking through the jungle on the
island, they hear the sound of an animal running towards them. As they start to
run away the score starts playing, getting louder and faster with high and low
pitches to make the audience feel what the characters in the show are feeling;
scared and anxious. This will appeal to the audience as they will feel a
variety of emotions watching the show making it more entertaining for them as
well again being able to escape to the island by feeling the emotions of the
characters.
Peaky
Blinders also has high audience appeal. One reason why this series appeals to
its intended audience is because of the historical context featured on the
show. Peaky Blinders make reference to historical events, such as WW1 and the
lives of the people during and after this time. An example of this in the text
is when Thomas Shelby states ‘we fought for our country, fighting for the upper
class’, which explains that when they came back from war they lived in poverty
while the king lived in luxury and they are getting nothing in return for it.
Peaky Blinders is also based around a real gang that formed in Birmingham in
1919, so by giving an insight into the circumstances of others, it attracts and
gratifies an audience that wants to learn about the circumstances of the past. This
appeals to the niche audience watching the show.
High
production value and cinematography is also an aspect that appeals to the niche
audience of Peaky Blinders. An example of this is the fight scene in the
beginning of season 1 episode 2. The fight starts with a slow motion close up
of Thomas Shelby taking off his hat and hitting a man across the face with the
blades cutting him. This is then followed by slow motion mid shots of all the
other men fighting with close ups of their faces showing their emotions. As the
shots are slow motion the camera cuts are slow and a shallow depth of field is
used. There is also rewinded music played over the fight scene to create the
confused and chaotic emotion. This high
quality cinematography will appeal to eh niche audience.
A third reason for this is the use of film stars
on the show. By using popular faces on the show, it helps attract the audience
to watch their favourite actresses and actors on the show. Such actors and
actresses include Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby, Sam Neil as CI Chester
Campell and Helen Mcroy as Aunt Polly. This cast will attract a wider audience to
watch the TV drama. Using a well known cast will also help give a good
reputation for the show, as the film stars are in high quality films, which
will attract an audience looking fro that same quality.
Madmen
appeals to a niche audience with particular aspects of the show attracting this
audience to watch. One of these aspects is the representation of the characters
on the show. The females present in season 5 episode 11, are keen to break out
of their gender roles present in the 1960’s. This might gratify a female
audience as it gives them a model of behaviour and a character to inspire to
themselves. In the episode Peggy, who has worked hard herself to work in a high
position within the business, got offered a job working for another company in
a higher-ranking job that earns more money. She takes this job and informs Don
Draper that she is leaving his business. She opposes the gender role that women
are controlled by men and proves that she makes her own decisions and has
respect from her other colleagues. By the show displaying a range of behaviour
and representation of women, it gives an insight to the viewers and helps them
learn about the circumstances at this time. Again this could gratify the
audience, as women would enjoy seeing other women do well in their business
place. The audience of madmen would enjoy decoding the show, so the use of
complex characters and complex narrative would gratify them, so they would be
attracted to watch the show.
Another
aspect of Madmen that might appeal to the audience is the common context
occurring in the show. The characters all work for a business and are shown
working in the office. We also follow the personal life of Don Draper as well
which is relatable to the audience that are also experiencing this. The
preferred audience for Madmen are middle aged, middle class males, similar to
the characters in the show. This means they would be able to relate to these
characters, which would gratify them.
